When do growing pains happen

Did your child spend part of the day playing sports, running, or jumping? A lot of physical activity during the day may cause growing pains to happen that night. Your answers to these questions may help your doctor diagnose your child with growing pains.

You may be able to help your child feel better when he or she has growing pains. Your doctor may suggest you do one or more of the following:. Growing pains may cause your child to be tired during the day. National Center for Biotechnology Information, U. This article was contributed by: familydoctor. This information provides a general overview and may not apply to everyone. Talk to your family doctor to find out if this information applies to you and to get more information on this subject.

Learn about the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, a joint condition that affects teens and…. Osgood-Schlatter disease is one of the most common causes of knee pain in young children and athletes. It can…. It is painful and caused by swelling of…. People commonly assume that growing pains are caused by bones stretching, but even during a growth spurt bones grow really slowly, too slowly to cause pain.

The good news is that growing pains do pass and cause no damage to bones or muscles. Make your child comfortable and try to help them to not worry about growing pains. Gently massaging the area and using heat treatments like a warm bath or warm heat pack, might ease growing pains.

You can also use medicines to help reduce pain, like paracetamol. Some people think this pain is the same as growing pains, but while the two conditions have a lot in common, they have different causes and treatments. The condition is most common in children who are very active. This condition happens when the calf bones grow faster than the Achilles tendon. The pain usually is in both legs and does not involve the joints. Occasionally, kids may have pain in the arms along with leg pain, but they do not have pain only in the arms.

Growing pains often strike in late afternoon or early evening before bed but pain can sometimes wake a sleeping child. Most kids are pain-free and active as usual during the day. Growing pains may last for months or years, but they don't happen every day. There might be days, weeks, or months between pain episodes. They may have an infection or an injury. Diagnosis of growing pains Growing pains are diagnosed by ruling out all other causes of leg pain.

Other health problems that can cause pain in the legs include: arthritis — which damages joints infections such as osteomyelitis and some virus infections such as Ross River virus problems that affect how the muscles work together — such as knock knees and very flat feet. Always see your doctor if your child: has severe pain or pain that only affects one leg or arm , or if the pain is still there during the day is unwell or has a fever, loss of appetite or rashes has swelling, reddening or tenderness of the leg or arm is limping.

Treatment for growing pains Always see your doctor to make sure that there is no other cause of pain. Things that may help your child manage the pain include: plenty of cuddles and reassurance that the pain will go away and that their legs will feel normal by morning massaging the painful area using special massage oils this is not necessary to easing the pain, but may help your child feel special heat treatment, such as warm baths and heat packs medicines that reduce pain, such as paracetamol check the bottle to make sure that you give the right dose if your child has feet that roll in or if they trip a lot, ask a podiatrist to check their legs and posture don't tell the child that the pain is associated with playing or growing, or else the child may feel afraid of both.

Where to get help Your doctor Pharmacist Maternal and child health nurse Paediatrician Things to remember Many children have pains in their legs without any obvious cause and these are often called growing pains. Most children who do lots of exercise don't get pain, and many children with pain have not been doing more exercise than usual.

Always see your doctor to make sure that there is no other cause of pain. Give feedback about this page. Was this page helpful? Yes No. View all children Related information. From other websites Child and Youth Health. Growing pains — KidsHealth.